<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Self-Destruct" href="#" target="_blank">Self-Destruct</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CLiiga+Smilshkalne%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art">Liiga Smilshkalne</a></em></p>
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<p>Hello, and welcome to <em>Am I the Bolas</em>?<strong> This week, a longtime reader writes in!</strong></p>
<p>This column is for all of you out there who have ever played some <em>Magic </em>and wondered if you were the bad guy. I'm here to take in your story with all of its nuances so I can bring some clarity to all those asking, "Am I the Bolas?"</p>
<p>I'm ready to hear you out and offer advice. All you have to do is email amithebolas@gmail.com with your story, a pseudonym you want to use, and of course, only include details you don't mind in the column! You might see your story below one day.</p>
<p>I'm Mike Carrozza and somebody ate my cookies!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Khaaaaaaaaaaaannn!"></div></div>
<p><i>This is what the reference is, right?</i></p>
<p>(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)</p>
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<h2>SUBMISSION</h2>
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<p><em>Hey Mike,</em></p>
<p><em>I have an old-school 'Am I the Bolas' moment about an interaction that stuck with me forever.</em></p>
<p><em>I was running a strict $30 hyper-budget <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rowan, Scion of War" href="#" target="_blank">Rowan, Scion of War</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck against a Naya partner deck (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Akiri, Line-Slinger" href="#" target="_blank">Akiri, Line-Slinger</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>/<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer" href="#" target="_blank">Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>). I had built an army of 25 Necron artifact tokens. On his turn, he drops an asymmetrical wipe to destroy all my artifacts. He also had a creature out that deals one damage to me whenever an artifacts hit the graveyard.</em></p>
<p><em>The math was clear: the wipe was going to trigger 25 damage and kill me on resolution. I naturally started scooping my cards up. But mid-scoop, I paused and realized a legal line: 'Wait, in response to the wipe, I could have used my instant-speed life-drain creature to kill myself first. I still die, but your board wipe resolves on an empty seat, meaning you get zero triggers and zero buff counters for your commanders.'</em></p>
<p><em>He instantly shot back in a panic: 'That would be just like scooping!'</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Am I the Bolas for pointing out a legal, instant-speed tactical suicide to deny a raid boss their victory value, or is he the Bolas for trying to call a literal card interaction illegal just to save his triggers?</strong></em></p>
<p><em>Thank you from</em><br />
<em>The outskirts of the universe.</em></p>
<p><em>Dipped Lasagna</em></p>
<p><em>PS. Told you I would send you an "Am I the Bolis?" (yes, I know, but to me it will always be Bolis)</em></p>
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<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wall of Blood"></div></div>
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<h2>VERDICT</h2>
<p>Thank you for writing and asking me to weigh in on your story. As I mention every week, if folks don't write to me, there's no column, so if you, the reader, want to send me a story, whether it's your own or one from Reddit or a friend's, please send it to amithebolas@gmail.com and I'll get to it here.</p>
<p>Thanks for writing in from the outskirts of the universe! What the heck is the lasagna dipped in? Weird!</p>
<p>Dip, as a longtime reader of the column, I think I can safely say you've probably seen versions of this story addressed in my column, whether on EDHREC or Commander's Herald. It's worth refreshing on certain topics and this is one I really like to talk about. Maybe we can get somewhere new with it this time around.</p>
<p>While you don't contextualize the whole game, I think there are enough context clues to say that even if you only named yourself and the Naya pilot, there was more game to be had after you'd been eliminated. This is important because if someone were to complain about not getting triggers from their game-winning move after they've won the game of killing me and their desired outcome was achieved, I think I'd have to ask them if everything is okay. You won, leave me alone! But in this case, it feels pretty clear that you were only one opponent eliminated to them of more.</p>
<p>I'm of two minds in this decision. In a broader sense, if someone is taking you out and you have resources to defend yourself, you should do it even if you'll be killed off. For example, if I'm being attacked for more than lethal and I have creatures to block with, I will absolutely try to take out their best stuff. This is part of the calculation that goes into making the decision to try to eliminate me from the game. If my opponent goes on to lose against another player because they came to kill me first and neglected to protect some pieces or predict that I had a few kills spells to lob their way, that's a miscalculation on their part. That said, sometimes it doesn't feel worth it to go whole hog and go after that player, so it's really context-dependent and subjective. There's no hard rule about doing anything to rob a player of a clean win. If you're going to kill me and I can blink a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ravenous Chupacabra" href="#" target="_blank">Ravenous Chupacabra</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, it depends on how I feel, but there's a chance it's happening and my killer will need to take that on the chin.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Time Elemental"></div></div>
<p>Because everything was legal in the way that you could have used your resources to kill yourself before the board wipe went off and you'd be denying your opponent of buff triggers, if this line had been declared before scooping up your things, I'd say it'd be difficult to argue with you. The trouble comes from the fact that you had begun to scoop your things up due to the board wipe essentially resolving. Look, we're not lawyers and cops at most tables, we're not following a procedure of priority with extreme precision, which means there's a lot of shortcutting in Magic. (The joke here is that lawyers and cops also don't follow procedure a lot of the time! Haha, got 'em!)</p>
<p>By picking up your things before you spotted your self-elimination line, I'd say that this is essentially shortcutting to the resolution of the board wipe and that your timing window here to take it back has passed. If you'd done it before beginning to pack it up, I'd say no chance you're the Bolas, but in this case, Dipped Lasagna, my friend, you're the Bolis. I've been pretty clear that anybody who scoops in order to deny a player triggers isn't getting my thumbs up. In fact, if anybody does this, we resolve the triggers as though the scooping player remained and chose no actions. The only time this is acceptable to pull off is if it's on board like you're at two life and tap your <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancient Tomb" href="#" target="_blank">Ancient Tomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or you're at ten and slam a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hidetsugu&#039;s Second Rite" href="#" target="_blank">Hidetsugu&#039;s Second Rite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as your way out. Forfeiting to deny a player triggers when there's more game to be played is bad manners. However, you'd have been fine if you hadn't implicitly agreed to the resolution of the board wipe's effects as you had begun to scoop it up.</p>
<p>Thanks again for writing in!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hidetsugu&#039;s Second Rite"></div></div>


Am I the Bolas? - Self-Destruct

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Delete" href="#" target="_blank">Delete</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CSteve+Argyle%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art">Steve Argyle</a></em></p>
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<p>Hello, and welcome to <em>Am I the Bolas</em>?<strong> This week, beep boop beep boop, robot noises!</strong></p>
<p>This column is for all of you out there who have ever played some <em>Magic </em>and wondered if you were the bad guy. I'm here to take in your story with all of its nuances so I can bring some clarity to all those asking, "Am I the Bolas?"</p>
<p>I'm ready to hear you out and offer advice. All you have to do is email amithebolas@gmail.com with your story, a pseudonym you want to use, and of course, only include details you don't mind in the column! You might see your story below one day.</p>
<p>I'm Mike Carrozza: it's finally happening!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Unluckiest Planeswalker"></div></div>
<p><i>It's the Cursed guy!!!</i></p>
<p>(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)</p>
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<h2>SUBMISSION</h2>
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<div><em>Hi Mike,</em></div>
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<div><em>I got a haircut on the weekend, and considered getting/becoming a Bolcut. I didn't do it, but I considered it.</em></div>
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<div><em>When is player removal OK? I mostly play in the "<a href="https://edhrec.com/guides/edhrec-guide-to-commander-brackets">Bracket 2/3</a>" space where very few Game Changers hit the table and people build up decently big boards of stuff. I have a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rocco, Street Chef" href="#" target="_blank">Rocco, Street Chef</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck which people often get greedy against and give lots of triggers, then realize "oh, no!" and everyone teams up to player remove me. It's always fun when it plays out, even though I'm the one getting player removed, so from my perspective it can be fine to get player removed, in the right context. My question is about a more sudden removal.</em></div>
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<div><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archenemy&#039;s Charm"></div></div></div>
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<div><em>I was playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Council of Four" href="#" target="_blank">The Council of Four</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and had built up seven 2/2 Knight tokens. Two opponents were ticking along and had boards, but one playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Riku of Two Reflections" href="#" target="_blank">Riku of Two Reflections</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> hadn't hit any ramp and had just played some instant card draw for the last couple turns. They had no creatures in play and were down to 28 life. On my turn, I drew <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Obelisk of Urd" href="#" target="_blank">Obelisk of Urd</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which would turn my 2/2s into 4/4s and give me exact lethal on the Riku. I barely even stopped to consider, dropping the Obelisk and swinging into the Riku player. I figured if they got to sit around eventually there would be some board wipes and/or copy spell shenanigans, so if I could eliminate them it would preserve my strong board state and improve my chances of winning. Which I eventually did.<strong> Am I the Bolas for deleting the Riku player before they got to do a whole lot in the game?</strong></em></div>
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<div><em>It's fun for me when my deck goes off and I get player removed in retaliation, but probably not so much if I got removed before doing anything. But it irks me to consider combo decks/players who might build greedy decks that seemingly don't do much before they pop off and win, who rely on the mercy of others to give them a window. I don't know if that's what this Riku deck was, and I've played with the pilot a decent amount and don't think they're the sneaky type to play/build like that. But to me, they were open and eliminating them was the correct play (except that they were the only one with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Forest" href="#" target="_blank">Forest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s so my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Submerge" href="#" target="_blank">Submerge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> cost mana after they were gone. Yuck)</em></div>
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<div><em>Best regards,</em></div>
<div><em>Willie the Postman</em></div>
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<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Willie Lumpkin, Postman"></div></div>
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<h2>VERDICT</h2>
<p>Thank you for writing and asking me to weigh in on your story. As I mention every week, if folks don't write to me, there's no column, so if you, the reader, want to send me a story, whether it's your own or one from Reddit or a friend's, please send it to amithebolas@gmail.com and I'll get to it here.</p>
<p>I understand why you'd feel like the Bolas in this situation. While it's the best strategic play to get rid of a player you feel like would give you a hard time down the line, it doesn't suck any less to cut someone short of their good time. If they haven't been able to get up to much all game, it's definitely a bummer. This is one where I could lean either way. You're the Bolas for killing a player before they got to do anything meaningful. You're not the Bolas because you were playing to win and it made sense for you to get rid of this particular opponent while you really had an unexpected opportunity to do so. It's just the way it goes sometimes. If I was playing a game and I couldn't draw into anything, I'd be bummed already. If I get taken out, maybe I'll get to give this deck a do-over since the game's probably almost done with me gone. I wouldn't mind dying since it already wasn't going well, so it is what it is.</p>
<p>I think it all comes down to the vibe. Are we playing to win in a more relaxed pod? Or are we looking to make sure everybody gets to do the thing? Are we doing both? Ideally, we're doing both! The best case scenario for a Commander pod is everybody gets to have a moment and everybody's playing to their outs for a competitive and satisfying game. That said, if someone's bringing up the rear something awful and barely gets to kickstart their game, how long do you have to go before you cut the caboose weighing down the train that can also be setting up a come-from-behind win? I've been in this position before and I'll say I much prefer getting taken out of the game if there's no sign of hope than if I have a slow plan that hasn't been easy to get going but shows a little promise. That said, you don't always get to have that and that's the nature of the game. I would prefer getting killed at the table than be bled dry by the player who needs combat damage triggers. Don't get me wrong, I've had to protect some opponents when playing a theft deck or my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teysa, Opulent Oligarch" href="#" target="_blank">Teysa, Opulent Oligarch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but it feels really bad to keep someone around who's not been able to get any action in as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2CeDY9Ywhs">blood bag</a>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teysa, Opulent Oligarch"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lazav, Wearer of Faces"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Master, Transcendent"></div></div>
<p>I don't have a definitive answer to this one. Ultimately, if you feel a type of way when you do something at the table, have a conversation about it with the person it affects and explain your reasoning. It's also fine to explain your reasoning before pulling the trigger on this kind of attack; maybe you'll see if there isn't a way to work out a deal with this opponent. However, in a game sense, if you're doing this, I'm assuming you have the other player pretty well managed and eliminating any sort of wildcard element to your plan is a good move. Riku could be one card away from a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and then who knows!</p>
<p>I can't call you the Bolas here because I understand where you're coming from and it does make sense, but if you feel a tightness about this move, it's easy to understand why: you cut someone down before they could do the fun part of the hang. Get it over with and shuffle up for another, I say. That's me, though. Make sure you check in with your friends/opponents about things that happen in game to make sure there aren't any hard feelings and whether there was another way about this.</p>
<p>Thanks again for writing in!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Choice of Damnations"></div></div>


player removal

Am I the Bolas? - Self-Destruct

Am I the Bolas? - Delete